Aug. 18, 2011
WASHINGTON - Opening with a 21-0 scoring spree, the 2011 USA Basketball Women's World University Games Team (4-0) along with Georgetown University Head Women's Basketball Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy finished off Finland (2-2) 96-30 on Thursday night in Shenzhen, China.
The medal quarterfinal win advances the U.S. squad to the 2011 World University Games semifinals, where it will face a strong and also unbeaten Australian (4-0) side on Aug. 19 (8:30 a.m. EDT).
All 11 players scored as the squad once again demonstrated a defensive prowess thanks in part to Williams-Flournoy's pressure defense which she also runs at Georgetown.
By the time Finland got on the board at 4:02, it was clear the Europeans had no answer for the American women, and the game was shaping up to quickly get out of hand.
Outscoring the Fins 11-8 for the remainder of the quarter, by the first break the U.S. was well in command, 32-10, marking the only double-digit scoring quarter in the game by the Finnish team.
Showing no let-up in the second half, the U.S. won the third quarter 20-7 and the fourth quarter 23-6.
Finland's largest scoring run was a five-point stretch in the middle of the fourth quarter, marking its final points of the game, to make it 79-30 with 7:18 still to play. The USA then went on a 17-0 run to close the contest.
The USA's relentless defense forced 29 turnovers and held Finland to shooting just 16.7 percent 10-60 FGs) from the field and 16.1 percent (5-31 3pt FGs) from the line; while the USA's offensive show produced 62 points in the paint, 32 second-chance points and 18 on the fast break. The U.S. also shot an even 50.0 percent from the field (41-82 FGs) and 37.5 percent (6-16 3pt FGs) from beyond the arc.
The other medal semifinal game will feature Taiwan (4-0) against Sweden (3-1). The semifinal winners will compete in the Aug. 21 gold medal game (9:30 a.m. EDT), while the losers will play for bronze earlier that evening (7:00 a.m. EDT). Australia advanced to the semifinals with a 79-44 defeat of Canada (1-2), while Taiwan defeated Brazil (2-2), 65-54, and Sweden (2-2) edged Russia (2-1), 68-60.
